Massachusetts Notary Requirements

Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 222, § 1 (Definitions - identity standard). "Satisfactory evidence of identity", identification of an individual based on: (i) at least 1 current document issued by a United States or state government agency bearing the photographic image of the individual's face and signature; (ii) the oath or affirmation of a credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary public and who personally knows the individual; or (iii) identification of an individual based on the notary public's personal knowledge of the identity of the principal; provided, however, that for a person who is not a United States citizen, "satisfactory evidence of identity" shall mean identification of an individual based on a valid passport or other government-issued document evidencing the individual's nationality or residence and which bears a photographic image of the individual's face and signature.

Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 222, § 22 (CHRONOLOGICAL OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NOTARIAL ACTS): (a) Except as provided in subsection (f), a notary public shall keep, maintain, protect and provide for lawful inspection a chronological official journal of notarial acts performed by the notary public. A journal may be created on a fixed tangible medium or in an electronic format. If the journal is maintained on a tangible medium, it shall be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages. If the journal is maintained in an electronic format, it shall be in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format complying with the rules of the state secretary, including rules concerning the regular transfer of electronic journal entries to the secretary. (b) A notary public shall keep not more than 1 tangible journal at any time. A notary may keep more than 1 electronic journal; provided, however, that each electronic journal shall conform to the requirements of subsection (a). (c) For every notarial act, except for the issuance of a summons or subpoena or the administration of an oral oath, the notary public shall record in the journal at the time of the notarization: (i) the date and time of the notarial act, proceeding or transaction; (ii) the type of notarial act; (iii) the type, title or a description of the document, transaction or proceeding; provided, however, that if multiple documents are signed by the same principal in the course of a transaction or during a single date, a single journal entry shall be sufficient; (iv) the signature and printed name and address of each principal and witness, except that if a principal or witness informs the notary public that the principal or witness is a battered person, the notary public shall make a note in the journal that the person's address shall not be subject to public inspection; and (v) a description of the satisfactory evidence of identity of each person, including: (1) a notation of the type of identification document, the issuing agency, its serial or identification number and its date of issuance or expiration; provided, however, that if the identification number on the document is the person's social security number then, instead of including the number, the notary public shall write in the words 'Social Security number' or the acronym 'SSN'; (2) a notation if the notary public identified the individual on the oath or affirmation of a credible witness or based on the notary public's personal knowledge of the individual; (3) a notation indicating whether the notarial act was conducted in person or remotely; (4) the fee, if any, charged for the notarial act, including whether a technology services fee was charged and the amount of the technology services fee; and (5) the address where the notarization was performed... (d) A notary public shall not record a social security or credit card number in the journal. (e) A notary public shall record in the journal the reason for not completing a notarial act requested by a principal. (f) A journal shall not be required for a notary public who is an attorney admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction or who is employed by any such attorney... A notary public who works for a government entity shall not be required to maintain a journal for the notarial acts performed in the course of that employment.

Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 262, § 41 is the only statutory notary fee provision and caps the fee for 'noting' a dishonored negotiable instrument (a step in protest), not ordinary notarizations. The Supreme Judicial Court held in Richardson v. The UPS Store, Inc., 486 Mass. 126 (2020), that 'The $1.25 fee cap set forth in G. L. c. 262, § 41, applies only to a particular notarial act known as ''noting,'' i.e., a step in the process of protesting a dishonored negotiable instrument' and 'does not limit the fees for any other act by notaries.' Massachusetts therefore sets NO statutory maximum fee for ordinary notarial acts (acknowledgments, jurats, etc.); fees must be reasonable and disclosed.
Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 222, § 23 (FEES NOT TO BE CHARGED FOR CERTAIN NOTARIAL ACTS): Notwithstanding section 41 of chapter 262, no fee shall be charged by a notary public to notarize a signature on an absentee ballot identification envelope or other voting materials or on any application or claim by a United States military veteran for a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance or other veterans' benefit.